


Transcribing

by JLLWriter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Pining, Widobrave Week 2020, Yeza mentioned in passing, inspired by another work, its about the longing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23325340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLLWriter/pseuds/JLLWriter
Summary: He doesn’t intentionally try to memorize her body; it just happens.Widobrave Week, day 5: Pining
Relationships: Nott & Caleb Widogast, Nott/Caleb Widogast, Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast, Veth Brenatto/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69





	Transcribing

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is partially inspired by jaspell's work "transmogrification" because it's beautiful and I love it  
> Thank you to my beta, Lelahs ^_^

Casting a spell is different than transcribing and studying one. The difference between learning and deciphering the runes and sigils created by the wizard who wrote it, working out the proper gestures and sounds, and finally utilizing them. Hours and hours of writing and looking at the same spells over and over again, trying to perfect the symbols to place in his spellbook. To commit to memory. 

The time that went into creating a new spell; figuring out the components and the gestures and proper sounds, writing it all down, page after page. 

The first time he cast his Web of Fire, the sulfur coating his fingers and cat’s cradle in his hands, forcing it down onto the ground, watching the columns of fire deface their opponents. All that time rewriting and redrawing made worth it once he felt that magic through his hands. 

\---

He’s seen her without her cloak and bandages on very rarely. When the days on the road get too hot, and they know it won’t be days until the next town. When she reluctantly washes herself off with a wet cloth by a river. He always gives her privacy, but his eyes have darted over her form out of curiosity before.

Her bones are so very visible on her skinny form, her ribs so clear against her skin he could almost count them; her spine and shoulder blades apparent under her green skin as she leans down. He worried over her not eating enough after that.

That’s not to say Nott was weak, however. Her body was very much firm muscles on tough bones. She was stronger than she looked; the meat she did have was solid and durable. 

\---

Caleb has always had a great memory. It comes in handy when counting supplies and coin, in learning new spells.

He doesn’t intentionally try to memorize her body; it just happens.

Nights on the road had Caleb learning more about Nott than he anticipated.

She can’t be more than 50 pounds. She’s a relatively heavy sleeper compared to him. She gets cranky at night. She snores lightly. She drools. She’s cold in comparison to him. They huddle closer during cold nights.

Her skin is tough and imperfect, small bumps scattering the parts not covered by wraps. Her hair is dark green, almost black, and coarse and wiry; it gets oily after more than a month without a proper wash. Her hands are rough, calluses hardening the pads on her palm. Her claws are black and much tougher than his fingernails. She’ll absentmindedly scratch at her hand in the night. 

Her right ear has a small chunk taken out of it; he assumes it came from her time with her clan. Her eyebrows are thin and the hair that’s there is placed oddly, each strand pointing in a different direction, never following each other uniformly. She has seven piercings on her ears, four on her right ear and three on her left. Her protruding teeth hide the small scar on her top lip. One of her canines was slightly chipped. Her top lip is thin while the bottom one is a little fuller, puffing up slightly under the teeth pushing against it. She has a thin scar where her neck meets her clavicle. She has another scar on her left just under her ribs. Her shoulders are speckled with lighter shades of green in what Caleb assumes to be freckles. Her left thigh has a spot of discoloration, about three inches long and in an odd shape. Her chin has a dimple when she frowns. 

Her spine pokes out against her skin, leaving a weird feeling against his legs, but an odd comfort to run his hands against when she sleeps against his chest. Her elbows and knees are sharp, but she always knows where to place them so she won’t accidentally hurt him. Her pelvis is small and juts out against her skin. He hasn’t really seen it, always hidden beneath her cloak, but his hands rest at her waist when he sleeps, and he can feel the sharpness of her hips against him.

\---

His mind is connected with hers during the ritual. He expected that to feel invasive, for both him and her, but he was almost surprised by how natural it felt. The sound of his own muttering of incantations started to sound far away as he worked with her to mold Veth a new body, her old body. 

A heavier, healthier form. Where Nott was all bones and sharpness, Veth would have fat and muscle, her form rounder and skin softer. Her hair dark brown, almost black, and soft and smooth, braided into loose braids that fell past her shoulders and rested upon her chest. Her breasts are smaller than Veth’s original form. She has softer hands, but they’re still calloused, a memory of her journey and strength. Her fingernails are small and stubby, her fingers thicker, a small bump on the knuckle on her right index finger. Her eyebrows thicker, fuller, and shaped better than they were before she was Nott. Her lips are rounder, and soft, she keeps the scar on her upper lip. Her teeth are no longer sharp and they’re whiter, there’s a gap between her two front teeth. 

Her ears are sharper and a bit more upturned than the average halfling, but Veth keeps them. She keeps her nose ring and half of her piercings to accommodate for her smaller ears. She has dimples. In her cheeks and on the side of her left leg. She has four birthmarks, one on the small of her back, one under her left breast, one on her inner right thigh, and another on her right ankle. Veth has Caleb make the one on her thigh look more like a heart. She has freckles across her shoulders and arms and chest, with only a few dotting her forehead and cheeks. She keeps every scar she gained on their journey together.

\---

Casting a spell is different than transcribing and studying one.

He craves to touch her. To feel every mark on her skin, feel every scar, count every freckle, every perfect imperfection. He doesn’t know why. Caleb quite literally knows Veth’s body inside and out now. But it doesn’t change his longing to learn everything about her new body the same way he learned about her previous one. 

There’s a twinge of jealousy when Jester jokes to Yeza before he joins Veth in their bedroom, knowing he will experience Veth’s new body much sooner and in different ways than Caleb ever could - although he does take a little bit of pride in knowing things about Veth’s body that Yeza would likely never learn. But shame wracks his mind after that for days. He shouldn’t be feeling this way, this craving desire to feel her form against his, his hand finding its place on her waist, slowly but surely learning all the new ticks that came with this body for himself. To commit to memory. 

To feel his fingers through her hair, his fingers brush against her skin, her hand in his, to rub the bump on the knuckle of her right index finger for himself. To count all seventeen of the freckles on her left shoulder every night when he can’t sleep. To see just how intricate and delicate and strong Veth is now. To make all that time casting and rewriting and redrawing worth it once he can feel that magic with his hands.


End file.
